


Where My Demons Hide

by moviegeek03



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Crime Fighting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mpreg, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-22 12:55:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moviegeek03/pseuds/moviegeek03
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jensen Ackles took over the BAU, he never expected to fall for the new hotshot analyst on his team.  Things become even more complicated when an UNSUB with his own personal vendetta against Jensen pops up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based largely off the show Criminal Minds as well as a prompt by my wonderful friend [imogen-lily](http://imogen-lily.livejournal.com/) (thank you for the art sweetie!). While I have degrees in psychology, I am by no means a profiler. The information presented in this story is based solely off my knowledge, research I’ve done, and elements of the show.

  
[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/moviegeek03/8997770267/)   


Jensen sat outside the office, his knee bouncing anxiously and his fingers tapping against the hard plastic of the chair. His tie suddenly felt too tight and his clothes too scratchy. He hated being this nervous, but getting called into the director’s office after a disastrous case was never a good sign. It normally meant something bad. Something would change; Jensen just didn’t realize how much everything was about to change.

Jensen felt like he was going to turn into a puddle of sweat in his seat at any moment. He had expected repercussions. The whole team had. This case had gotten personal and it nearly destroyed the team. Of course Director Sheppard would need to see them and discuss what was going to happen to their team—if they even were still a team. 

Jensen groaned to himself and hung his head. The bouncing of his leg picked up and he fidgeted a little in his seat. A moment later, Mark Sheppard opened his door and motioned for Jensen to comes inside. “Ackles,” he said by way of greeting.

Jensen shot up from the seat. “Director.”

Mark nodded. “Get in here.” He didn’t wait for Jensen to follow; he walked back inside his office and over to his desk. He leaned back into his broad leather chair calmly while Jensen looked as if he was about to have a panic attack as soon as he stepped foot in the room.

“Breath, boy,” Mark chastised. “If you pass out on me I’m sure as hell not picking your ass up.” Mark sent him a stern look, but it was obvious he was also worried. “Sit down, Jen.” 

Jensen tried to take in a deep breath while he sat, but it didn’t do much good. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“I did.” Mark leaned forward in his chair. “I know the BAU has been a mess the past few weeks, and I believe a solution is long overdue.”

“Yes sir,” Jensen gulped, bracing himself for what was coming next. He loved his job. He loved it more than anything else. But he’d been reckless. He had let Jim’s emotions cloud his judgment and things had gotten bad. He knew there would be consequences, and he really didn’t want to hear them. But Jensen sat up in his chair and tried to look as professional and confident as possible to his boss.

“I’ve discussed this heavily with Agent Beaver, and we believe that it is in the best interest of not only the BAU but himself if he steps down and retires. He will remain available for consultations when needed but he will no longer be an active agent in our bureau.”

Jensen closed his eyes and nodded. He knew that Jim wouldn’t be able to stay on, not after this case. The serial killer, James Patrick, had made it his personal mission to get to Jim, and he had succeeded. Jim was in no shape to jump right back into the job. He needed time away, and apparently that meant permanently. 

“Agent Jeffrey Dean Morgan is doing the opposite. He’s returning to the bureau after years of retirement. He’s grown, well, bored it seems of his little book clubs and whatnot.” Mark waved his hands and rolled his eyes a bit. “You remember Agent Morgan, don’t you Ackles?”

“Yes, sir,” Jensen quickly answered. “He worked here while I was in the academy. He gave some guest lectures and demonstrations. We met on multiple occasions. He will make a great team leader.”

“That he would,” Mark sighed. “So you better work your ass off to prove that I’m making the right call in giving you the team over him.”

“What?” Jensen blurted out in his shock. “I mean—excuse me?”

Mark ran a hand over his face and leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his desk. “Look, I know you made mistakes in the Patrick James case. It wasn’t just Jim. But I have no proof and the damned fool is taking full responsibility. You both were in over your heads and emotions ran high. Jim had been going after James for nearly a decade on and off. I do believe you were doing what you thought was best, but people got hurt.”

“I know, Director. I won’t forget that, trust me.”

“I do. Hell if I know why, but I do,” Mark grumbled. “But I’m not letting you have free rein. That’s why you are getting two new agents assigned to your team.”

“Two? I thought you just said Agent Morgan?”

“Well, that was originally the plan, but Morgan insisted that we bring in a newbie with him.”

“A newbie?” Jensen scrunched his brow. “You’re letting a newbie go straight from nothing to the BAU?”

“He’s qualified; I can promise that.” Mark moved a few folders around on his desk until he found the one he was apparently looking for. He tossed it to Jensen. “Take a look for yourself.”

Jensen pulled the folder, labeled simply ‘Dr. Jared Padalecki’ closer towards himself. “Four bachelor degrees from Cal Tech, four master’s degrees from Yale, and three PhDs? Recently completed all requirements with the academy on top of that. Damn! Who is this guy?”

“A certifiable genius,” Mark answered with a smirk. “Padalecki’s been working with Morgan for a few years now at the university. He’s done consultation work as well as research. He may not have the field experience, but he knows his stuff. He ought to be a good asset for the team. You’ll have to train him with weapon skills and some field work, but he’s a quick learner from what I can see.”

Jensen nodded and continued to skim over the folder. The guy looked great on paper, what with multiple degrees in criminology, forensic chemistry, psychology, and physics, countless publications, and Morgan’s seal of approval. “Look forward to having the both of them join the team, sir.”

“Good! That’s what I was hoping to hear from you. It will be a change, but it is needed.” Mark stood from his chair and walked towards Jensen. Jensen stood as well and accepted the hand Mark offered. They shook and Mark patted his back. “Congrats kid. You’re the youngest to ever earn this spot.” He pulled Jensen in close so he could whisper in his ear. “Just don’t make me regret this. Got it?”

Jensen pulled away with his own smirk. “I promise you won’t sir.” 

“You better.” Mark clapped him on the shoulder once again. “Now get the hell out of my office and go inform the rest of your team. Morgan and Padalecki will start first thing tomorrow.”

“Thank you again, director.” Jensen nodded in acknowledgement one last time before heading back towards his team’s headquarters. He paused for a moment in the empty hallway. Once he made sure that no one was around, he leaned against the wall and smiled brightly to himself. He was on cloud nine over the promotion. He’d wanted it from the moment he’d started in the bureau, and to get it this early in his career was nearly unheard of! 

He allowed himself a few more moments of giddy excitement before he pushed off the wall and sought out the rest of his team. It wasn’t hard to find them. As soon as Jensen rounded the corner, he saw everyone sitting on and around one of the first desks in the room—Christian Kane’s desk to be exact. 

“Jen!” Felicia, their technical analyst, was the first to hop off the top of the desk and jump at Jensen. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. It was obvious she feared the worst, just as he had earlier. 

“Hey brother,” Chris greeted next. He stayed in the office chair on the other side of the desk, but he took his legs off the desktop and leaned forward. 

The other two members of the team, Danneel and Kristen, sent him sad smiles and sat up straighter on the top of the desk. 

“How bad?” Kristen asked first, breaking the slight silence that had engulfed the group. Her long legs were bouncing nervously against the desk. 

Jensen pulled away from Felicia but left his arm around her thin shoulders. “Jim’s retiring. I’m not sure if it was forced, his decision, or a combination of both.” 

The others all looked down at that, and Jensen allowed them a moment for everything to sink in before continuing. 

“JD Morgan is coming out of retirement and returning to the BAU effective tomorrow. He’s bringing some doctor with him too. He’s new to the FBI but his credentials are off the charts.” 

“So we lose our top two agents and gain an old retiree and some wet behind the ears newbie? Are you shitting me?” Danneel scoffed.

“No,” Jensen quickly replied, shaking his head. Danneel was always fiercely protective of him, and he loved her for it. But now was not the time for her to get annoyed at their new team members. “We’re just losing Jim. I’m staying.” The others looked ready to all speak together, but Jensen held up his hands to shush them. “In fact, I’m your new unit chief effective tomorrow morning.” 

There was a chorus of ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ from all the team. Felicia threw her arms back around his neck. Danneel and Kristen soon joined. Chris hopped up from his chair and patted Jensen on the back, muttering a quick ‘atta boy’ in his direction. 

“This deserves a celebration!” Felicia all but squealed, bouncing on her feet a little. 

“I agree, man,” Chris chimed in. “Let’s hit the bar!” 

“Drinks are on you, right Jen?” Danneel teased with a smirk and a wink. 

Jensen barked out a laugh and followed his team out of the office. He didn’t even think about his boyfriend at home and how he had promised that he would be home right after work for dinner. The thought didn’t cross his mind until he pulled into the driveway hours later. 

Jensen hit his head against the steering wheel once the car was in park. The house was dark, save for the lights in the kitchen, where he was supposed to have been two hours ago for dinner with his boyfriend, Ed. He had promised he wouldn’t work late. He’d come straight home. But he had gotten too carried away with the promotion. Jensen just hoped Ed would understand.

Except the plate flying by his head really didn’t make it seem like Ed would be all that understanding.

“What the hell?” Jensen gasped. He barely managed to duck out of the way of the plate. It hit the door just as it was shut, shattering instantly and sending bits of long cold food in various directions. 

Ed stood in the hall between the kitchen and the living room where Jensen had just entered. He was pissed; that was blatantly obvious. His face was red and his shoulders were tense.

“What the hell?” Ed mimicked. “I should be asking you that! What the hell happened to ‘I promise I’ll be home right after the meeting with Sheppard’ huh?” Ed walked towards Jensen and poked him in the chest. “Where the hell have you been?”

Jensen sighed and tried to grab at Ed’s hand to hold it. Ed wouldn’t let him and shrugged out of his grasp almost instantly. Ed continued to glare at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

“The meeting with Sheppard didn’t go as I expected,” Jensen explained.

“So you didn’t lose your job?” Ed asked. Instead of sounding hopeful or happy, he sounded pissed and annoyed. 

“I actually got a promotion.” Jensen sent his boyfriend a smile, but it was not returned. “I’m taking over as unit chief. I have to deal with some new members but that won’t be too bad. The team and I just got caught up celebrating the fact that we weren’t going to be separated and reassigned, or fired, like we worried. It’s great news and—”

“So you’re still going to be working for the BAU?” Ed interrupted. “Are you kidding me?”

Jensen slowly approached Ed. “This is a good thing. It means I still have a job. I get to still do what I’m good at. What I love!”

“You’re supposed to love me, damn it! Not your shitty job!” Ed waved his arms out in his anger. 

“I do love you, Ed. I—”

“Then how come you never come home for dinner, even when you promise me you will?” Ed interrupted, deflating a little and looking hurt for the first time that night. “Two weeks ago you were supposed to take a few days off when my parents came in town so that we could show them D.C., do the proper tourist thing. Then that case came in and—”

“That case nearly cost me half my team!” Jensen gritted out.

Ed bit his lip and shook his head. He sank into the nearby chair and hung his head a moment later. “I get that they are your ‘family’ and all too, but you know what? I’m supposed to be your family. Me! And you barely spend an hour a day with me. We can’t go on like this! How are we supposed to start a family? Raise kids! The whole shebang! What are you going to do then? Huh? You going to watch them grow up over the occasional Skype while you jet set around the country playing Superman?” 

“My job is important!” Jensen snapped back. “It helps people! Hell it saves people! What do you want from me here, Ed, huh? Want me to give that up? Want me to never help another person just so you won’t have to eat dinner alone a couple nights a week?”

“A couple?” Ed scoffed. “Try every damn night!” Ed stood quickly and started towards the stairs. 

“Where are you going?” Jensen yelled. He followed Ed up the stairs and into their shared bedroom. Ed rummaged around in the closet for a moment before pulling out his old suitcase. He then turned to his closet and ripped his clothes off the hangers, stuffing them carelessly into the suitcase.

“Ed?” Jensen started, his voice cracking a bit as everything started to set in. This wasn’t supposed to be happening! Today had been perfect! He was supposed to have been able to come home to his boyfriend and continue the celebration. This was not what Jensen had expected, but in a way he should’ve. Everyone always said Jensen was in a relationship with his job more so than Ed. He should’ve known this was coming. It had been for a long time.

“I can’t do this anymore, Jen.” Ed slammed the suitcase shut and zipped it up. “I’m so tired of covering for you with my family, hell with your family too! I’m tired of wondering where you are and what you are doing.” He picked up the suitcase and started out of the room. Jensen followed him again. Ed paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned to Jensen. “I’m tired of coming in second.” He had tears in his eyes and his shoulders were shaking. 

“Ed, please! I can fix this. I can—”

“You’re right,” Ed laughed humorlessly. “You can fix this.” He stepped towards the front door and turned the handle. “But you won’t.” 

“Don’t do this, Ed!” Jensen grabbed the door, hoping to stop Ed from leaving.

“This is all you, Jen,” Ed replied. “You did this to us! And I’m not sorry for leaving. You did this.” Ed managed to pull Jensen’s arm away from the door. “I’ll come by tomorrow to pack up the rest of my things.” 

Jensen grabbed at the door, but it was useless. Ed was already on the porch and on his way to his car, away from Jensen. Part of Jensen wanted to scream and shout for Ed to come back and to figure things out, yet he never did. He simply slammed the door, not caring that the force caused some of the picture frames on the walls to fall and shatter. The pictures were of him and Ed. It didn’t matter much if the glass shattered. Their relationship was shattered as well apparently. 

With a shaky breath, Jensen climbed the stairs and trudged up to his bedroom. He’d clean up the glass in the morning. He’d deal with things, like he always did. It would make for a long night, and a hard first day as unit chief. But he’d get through, one way or another. With a deep sigh, he fell back against his pillows, not bothering to undress. 

Things had quickly turned from good to bad within minutes. He just hoped that didn’t reflect on how his first day as chief would go tomorrow. He soon fell into a restless sleep, twisting and turning and wrinkling his once pristine suit. It definitely did not bode well for his first day as a team leader.

********

The alarm blared to life bright and early that morning. The sun had barely risen and most people would still be sound asleep right about now. But not Jared. Today was a big day, and he needed to be up to get ready for it.

With a groan, he fumbled as he tried to shut the alarm off. Just because he was up at four in the morning didn’t mean his cousin turned roommate, Matt, would be. Knowing Matt, he would no doubt sleep in ‘til noon, a perk of mostly working from home with a very lenient boss. Jared did not have that luxury, but he was perfectly ok with that since he was starting his dream job today.

He allowed himself a few moments to fully wake before he crawled out of bed and quickly showered. He pulled on a pair of dark brown khakis, slipped his arms into a cream button up, and topped it off with a purple sweater vest. Both were somewhat oversized on his slight frame, but they were comfortable and that’s what mattered to him. His hands hovered momentarily over the few ties he owned before deciding to forgo one. He was already nervous and knew he would just pull at the thing all day if he wore it.

He noticed his hands were shaking as he opened his sock drawer. He shook them out, hoping to calm the tremors, before he dug around for two socks. He pulled out a plain purple sock and a purple striped one. He turned around to grab his shoes and jumped as he heard someone talking from his doorway.

“Always with the mismatched socks,” Matt sighed with a smile.

Jared sat down at his desk and slipped his socks and oxfords onto his feet. “It’s good luck,” he replied. 

“Whatever you say, kid.” Matt stepped inside Jared’s room and ruffled his hair.

“Hey! Don’t do that!” Jared swatted at his cousin’s hands to get him to stop. He frantically tried to smooth down the errant locks.

“You look fine, Jare. Don’t worry.” Matt squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t worry so much.”

Jared nodded before deflecting. “What’re you doing awake? It’s not like you to be up this early.” 

“See! Look at you! Already trying to profile me!” Jared rolled his eyes. “I thought you might like to eat before you went to visit your mom. I may have made your favorite.”

“French toast?” Jared asked hopefully.

“With lots of syrup and a pot of coffee.” 

Jared sent him a grateful smile and made quick work of his shoe laces. “Thanks, Matt.” 

Matt winked and patted his shoulder. “Go eat up. And say hi to your mom for me.”

Jared hopped up from his chair and darted towards the hall. He paused at the stairs when he noticed Matt wasn’t following. “Are you not eating or—”

“Are you out of your mind?” Matt scoffed. “It’s barely five in the morning! I’m going back to bed!” Matt shuffled towards his room but stopped at his door. “Hey, Jared? You’ll be fantastic today. You’re brilliant. Just remember that.”

Jared looked down and felt tears well up in his eyes at the compliment. He still wasn’t used to that. “Are you quoting _Doctor Who_ on me?” he teased, trying not to show emotions to his cousin. 

Matt rolled his eyes. “Shut up and go eat your breakfast while it is hot!” Jared made it down a few steps before Matt spoke again. “Good luck today! I’ll talk to you when I get home later, ok? I have a screening I need to go to tonight, but I expect details when I get home! Wait up for me ok? I’m not sure how long the movie is. And I will take care of your mutts when I wake up again.”

“Promise and thanks Matt!” Jared yelled back, already hurrying down the stairs. He gratefully guzzled down the coffee; it would probably be the first of many cups of coffee for the day. He relished in the sweet taste of the French toast before heading out. He had to leave quickly if he wanted to catch the right train to make it to Arlington on time. 

Jared thankfully made it on time and reached his destination with plenty of time to spare. In fact, he was actually too early for visitors, but the nurses there never restricted Jared to specific visiting hours. Instead, they usually welcomed him brightly no matter the hour of the day. 

“Dr. Padalecki!” a kind voice greeted from the front desk. 

Jared smiled. “Good morning, Ms. Devine.” He approached the desk and set a fresh latte down for her before leaning his elbows on the desktop. 

“Oh sweetie, you didn’t have to do that!” She took a sip and practically moaned at the taste. “But thank you sweetie! And how often do I have to tell you to stop with that ‘Ms. Devine’ stuff! You call me Loretta.” She squeezed his hand. 

Jared blushed a little. “Sorry, old habits die hard.” He bit his lip for a second. “And I’ll start calling you by your first name when you do the same.” He sent her a shy smile.

“Like you said, old habits die hard.” She winked at him, and Jared laughed. He took a moment to sip at his own coffee and to look around the hospital. There weren’t that many patients up and moving yet. It was still too early, but he knew he would be fine.

“She’s in the reading room, Jared,” Loretta said suddenly. “I can take you to her.”

Jared nodded again and turned his attention back to her. Loretta instructed one of the other nurses to take over the desk for her. After that, she stood and came around to Jared’s side. She placed her arm in his and led him towards the other room. Jared paused at the door, his eyes easily finding the only woman inside.

“How’s she been?” he asked, not looking away from her.

Loretta sighed. “You know schizophrenia isn’t something that Samantha will ever be cured of, but she’s had more good days than bad lately. She’s been missing you though.”

Jared took his eyes off her to look at Loretta. “I know. I hate that I couldn’t come last week. But I found out about a new job and things started on that and—”

“Shh, it’s ok,” Loretta soothed. “She’s so proud of you, ya know? All she’s talked about for the past couple of days.”

Jared blushed at her words once more and shuffled nervously on his feet. He always got nervous before seeing his mom; he couldn’t help it. It was always a reminder of what had been, what he missed out on, and what could happen to him one day. 

“Jared?” Loretta said softly, drawing him away from his thoughts. She nudged his shoulder gently. “Go visit your mama. I’ll be at my desk if you need anything, sweetheart.”

He smiled at her before finally making that step into the reading room. He crossed the room until he came to the window where his mother, Samantha, sat. She had thick, very old books spread out around her. Notebooks and pads sat on her lap, her knees bouncing a little underneath them. She had an old fashioned fountain pen up to her mouth while she apparently thought over whatever it was she had written. She was deep in thought from what Jared could tell, so much so that she didn’t even hear him approach until he was directly beside her and touching her shoulder.

She startled and Jared quickly backed, not wanting to scare her or elicit a bad reaction. He didn’t know what kind of day it was for her yet. 

“Jared,” she sighed, her face breaking out in a large smile. “It is so good to see you, baby.” She held her arms out for him to come forward for a hug. He did just that and sank into her embrace. It seemed like it was a good day after all.

“I’m sorry I scared you, Mama.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her head before pulling away. 

“You didn’t mean to.” She rubbed his arm. “I was caught up in my notes and didn’t hear you.” 

Jared carefully picked up one of the old books. “Chaucer?”

“’It’s that you each, to shorten the long journey, shall tell two tales en route to Canterbury, and, coming homeward, another two—‘”

“’Stories of things that happened long ago,’” Jared finished.

Sam practically beamed. “That’s my good boy!” 

Jared laughed a little. “You used to read those to me before bed. Of course I remember them.” He ran his fingers over the binding of the book. “What are you doing with them anyway?”

“I’m preparing for a lecture,” she stated matter of factly.

Jared’s heart sank at her words. She hadn’t taught since he was a child, yet some days she thought she still had to go give lectures and would prepare for days until someone or something would remind her that she wasn’t a professor anymore. She would then either end up arguing and screaming or become upset and depressed. Jared had hoped that this wouldn’t have happened, not today. 

Jared chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. “Mom, you—“

“I know I’m not at the campus anymore, baby.” She gave him a sadder smile this time and stroked his face with the back of her hand. “I’m tutoring some of the younger patients who have been pulled from schools and things. I promise it was cleared by my doctors. I wanted to surprise you.”

Jared ducked his head and let out a sigh of relief. “That’s great, Mama.” He pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. “Really happy to hear you get to do something like that.”

“It may not be as grand as getting a job within the BAU but I’ll enjoy it.” She squeezed his hand. “So when do you start?”

Jared checked his watch. “In two hours, thirty minutes, and some odd seconds.”

“You sound nervous.”

Jared ducked his head once again. “I might be.”

“Jared,” she said with a hint of warning in her voice.

“Ok,” he sighed. “I’m absolutely terrified.” 

“The government will do that to you.”

“Mom,” Jared huffed.

“Sorry, baby.” She moved an errant strand of hair out of his face. 

Jared continued to look down towards the floor. “What if I screw up? I could get people killed.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

“Jared, look at me.” She waited until his eyes met hers. “You will be great. You will help people. You will save people.”

“You don’t know that,” Jared mumbled in reply.

“No, but I know my son. I know how determined my baby is. I know how smart he is. And I know those people will be lucky to have you.” 

“Mama—”

“And no, I am not talking crazy. I may do that sometimes, but this is not one of them.”

Jared shook his head but smiled nonetheless. “Thank you.”

Sam nodded. “Now, you better leave if you want to catch your train.” 

Jared quickly kissed his mom and bid her and her nurses goodbye before heading back out. He felt better having visited her.

_Maybe today will go well after all._

With that thought in mind, Jared did not let the nerves get to him. Instead, he caught his train and made it to his new workplace with plenty of time to spare. He started to feel anxious as soon as he stepped into the building, but didn’t get the chance to dwell on it much, thanks to a tiny redhead who chose that moment to barrel around the corner. 

“Do my bespectacled eyes deceive me or is the geek god of all standing in my workplace?”

Jared’s head snapped up at the high pitched squeal. “Felicia?”

“Oh my God, it is you!” Felicia bounced where she stood before running and all but jumping into Jared’s arms. “What are you doing here?”

“Could ask the same of you, Ms. Day,” he said into her ear.

“I work here,” she replied rather sassily. 

Jared laughed. “As do I.” 

“Are you kidding me? How did I not know this?” 

“Does it help that I just found out last week?” Jared at least had the sense to look sheepish.

Felicia narrowed her eyes at him nonetheless. “Hmmm, I might forgive you for that.” 

Jared gave her a shy smile in return and shuffled nervously on his feet. 

“So, what department are you working for specifically? I can show you to your office if you’d like.”

“I can take care of that Ms. Day,” Mark suddenly said, appearing in the hall in front of them. He presented his hand for Jared to shake. “I see you have already met, and apparently know, your team’s technical analyst.”

“Wait, he’s on my team?” Felicia gasped, her face breaking out in a huge grin. 

Jared had to bite his lip to not smile at Mark’s obvious exasperation with the girl. “Yes, he is. And I now need to show him to the bullpen and get him prepped before the team returns.” Mark put his hand onto Jared’s shoulder and started to guide him away. “And I believe you should be in your office working on the case the team is in Florida for, correct Ms. Day?” 

“Yes, sir! I’m on it!” She saluted him before running back towards her office, her wedged Chuck Taylor shoes skidding on the linoleum as she went.

“So, Dr. Padalecki,” Mark sighed. “You are friends with our Ms. Day?”

“Yes, sir,” Jared answered, pulling his bag higher on his shoulder and allowing Mark to guide him towards the bullpen. “We met at some of the local comic conventions around DC a few years ago. The odds that we would be placed in the same workplace after such a meeting are quite astronomical. In fact, I believe a German researcher looked into the ways in which so called coincidences were explored and found the stats on them were in fact profound and—” 

“That’s very interesting Dr. Padalecki, but I really need to get back to my office,” Mark interrupted, rubbing his forehead. “This will be your desk here.” He stopped and knocked on the only empty desk in the area. “The team was called away early this morning for a case in Florida, but I checked in earlier and they believe they will be back by tonight. I am going to show Agent Morgan around and get him familiar with his new office and the changes we’ve made since he was here last in the meantime. So, familiarize yourself and be prepared for a briefing once they return. Agent Bell had one lined up but this particular case was sent straight to Agent Ackles’ personal phone this morning.”

“Of course, director. Thank you. I—”

“Son,” Mark sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Good luck.” He pat Jared’s arm before striding off towards his own office. 

Jared sighed and sank into the spinning computer chair. He looked around for a moment before smiling to himself and letting the chair spin around a few times. He had finally made it, and he couldn’t be happier.

**************

The team warily returned back to the office later that evening. They were wrung out, exhausted, and sore. The case had not been as simple as Jensen had hoped. When his old friend from Florida had called in the favor, he had made it seem like a simple stalking case. But once they had gotten there, it was anything but. They’d nearly lost the young man to his stalker and half the team had gotten bruised up in the process.

Combine that with the fact that Jensen was still dealing with the break up with Ed from the night before…

Needless to say, Jensen was not in a great mood.

“You ok?” Christian asked, clapping him on the back as they entered the elevator. 

“Yeah,” Jensen sighed. “Just tired. I’m ready to go home.”

“What? Can Ed not spend one day with you gone now?” 

Jensen tensed but before he could reply, Kristen started talking. “Sorry boys, but we’ve got another case I need to brief you on first. I think we’ll have to leave first thing tomorrow morning so I need to go over everything with you guys before we leave for the night.”

Chris just groaned, causing Danneel to smirk. “You’ll live, big boy,” she laughed.

Jensen rubbed at his forehead and tried to ignore Danneel and Chris as they continued to banter back and forth with each other until the elevator pinged and the doors opened. Jensen stepped off first and started towards his office. He paused for a moment to address Kristen though. “I need to take these files back to my office first. I’ll meet you in the conference room in a minute. Make sure Agent Morgan and Dr. Padalecki are there as well. Director Sheppard assured me he would make them stay here until we returned so they could be a part of this next investigation.”

“Sure thing,” Kristen replied. “Come on you two!” She looped her arms through both Danneel’s and Christian’s and began dragging them towards the conference room. 

Jensen sighed and turned the corner near his office. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and soon ran straight into someone, sending his files in every direction and scattering the contents.

“Shit!” he cursed.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” 

Jensen rolled his eyes and looked up to see a young man, one who barely looked out of his teens, standing in front of him. The kid had long dark hair that fell in front of his eyes as he reached down to help collect Jensen’s papers. He picked them all up and handed them back to Jensen, apologizing again. 

Jensen ran a hand over his hair. “Just, don’t let it happen again,” he sighed. 

“Of course, sir,” Jared quickly replied, looking him up and down. “I won’t let it happen again, Agent Ackles.” Jensen furrowed his brow. “Sorry, I came in with JD Morgan today and he’s told me a lot about you.”

“Oh.” Jensen looked at him skeptically. “So you must be JD’s assistant. I’ll have to have a word with him, but I’m sorry. We don’t exactly have enough funds to finance personal assistants for agents. He’ll have to—”

“Jensen!” JD greeted, suddenly in the hallway as well, eliciting the first real smile from Jensen that day. 

“Hey you!” Jensen accepted JD’s hand and a hug as well. “It’s so good to have you back, man.”

“It feels good to be back!” JD clapped him on the back before pulling away. “Though seeing you in such a high position is making me realize how old I am.” JD seemed to notice the younger man beside him as well. “Granted, this guy here does that to me enough of the time.” 

“I can imagine. I ran straight into your assistant a moment ago.”

“My assistant?” JD gave him a confused look. “No, this is Dr. Jared Padalecki. He’s been working with me for the past few years and has been asked to join the BAU alongside me.” JD reached over and squeezed Jared’s shoulder.

Jensen’s brow knit and his eyes widened. There was no way this man, no kid, could possibly be on his team! He looked like he wasn’t even out of high school, let alone old enough to even be starting his FBI training. There had to be a mistake. 

“Boys,” Kristen interrupted, her high heels clicking as she walked quickly. “Come on. Some of us would like to make it home before midnight.”

“Of course,” Jensen nodded. He allowed Kristen to usher them into the conference room, vowing to himself to check in with Sheppard about this Padalecki kid. 

“Everyone,” Kristen started as soon as she entered the room, “I’d like to introduce you to our new agents: Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Dr. Jared Padalecki. Both of you will be starting with us on this case. Please take a seat.”

Much like Jensen had earlier, Danneel and Christian eyed Jared warily and with much confusion, but no one had time to say anything since Kristen started passing out files for them to read over. 

“Last night I was contacted by the Maine state police about the recent shootings they’ve experienced over the past few weeks. They have been escalating and believe it is the work of a sniper choosing victims and locations at random.”

“But the locations have been very public places,” Jensen interjected. He stood and walked around towards the big screen where Kristen had displayed the photos of the crime scenes for the team. 

Kristen added, “Furthermore, unlike most snipers, this UNSUB does not appear to be aiming for the kill. Rather he goes for the abdominal region.”

“That could be a result of skill level,” Chris spoke up. 

“A lot of the times these guys are ex-military,” JD said.

“But not all the time,” Jensen countered. “There could be someone trying to mimic a prior incident, like the Beltway Sniper. Given the way he’s targeting such public areas and going for mass victims at once. It could be fueled by drugs like that case as well.”

“Actually, John Muhammad did not commit those crimes because of drug related incidents,” Jared commented. “It was the sniper in West Virginia that most likely committed the shooting due to that reason. Whereas with Muhammad, he most likely originally began the shootings as a way to cover up the murder of his wife, make her appear the victim of a serial killer rather than himself.”

“No,” Jensen sighed, “Muhammad believed it was his personal ‘Jihad’ to perform those crimes against innocent citizens.”

“Yes,” Jared calmly replied despite the air of annoyance in Jensen’s tone. “But that was not what originally led him to those crimes. He was an extremist prior to his wife’s murder, but the shootings were a result. I remember reading—” 

“Well I remember working the case when I was first in the FBI and—”

“Jensen,” JD intervened, “I worked as lead profiler on that case. Jared is correct. Let’s move on, please.”

Jensen blushed deeply, embarrassed at being corrected in such a way. He was tired from the case and the restless night thanks to Ed’s departure. He was off his game, sure, but still. He motioned for Kristen to continue nonetheless.

“The victims have little to nothing in common,” Kristen said. “It appears as if they were chosen at random and shot with a rifle of some form.”

“And we can’t identify the model of gun because he goes back to gather any bullets once the witnesses have fled the scene,” Jensen added. “So we have no bullets to use as a guide to identify the gun.”

“There looks like there could be a potential bullet,” Jared said, glancing down at his files before looking back up. “It seems as if there is one victim that has a bullet lodged in the spinal cord.”

“Where did you see that?” Danneel asked, flipping through the files.

“I believe it was on page fifteen of the reports.” Jared didn’t look down to double check, making Jensen believe the kid was just trying to show off. “George Allison was a victim from the last set but they have not tried to remove it for fear of paralyzing him and bleeding out.”

“There is no way you had time to read page fifteen,” Jensen commented a little harshly. 

“That information wasn’t released to the general public,” Kristen said. 

“And it’s right here in the reports, on page fifteen,” Danneel said with a small smirk. 

“Damn, pretty boy,” Chris chuckled. “How fast do you read?”

“I can process 20,000 words per minute,” Jared answered like it was nothing major.

“Wow,” both Chris and Danneel gasped, looking slightly amused and intrigued by the newbie. 

“Let’s move on please,” Jensen sighed.

Kristen nodded. “As Jared has stated, there is a possible bullet that could be recovered but that would depend on the victim and the doctors.”

“A surgery like that would probably kill the guy. Let’s not count on them performing the surgery,” Jensen said.

“Let’s hope they can,” JD stated sadly. 

“With the right surgeon, we might be able to,” Jared added softly. “With the technological advances we have today the odds of Mr. Allison’s survival are—”

“Still a hundred to one,” Jensen huffed. “It isn’t a likely thing we—”

“No, there is actually a 75% survival rate for the procedure using certain types of instruments in the operating room. I mean, there are other factors of course, but if push comes to shove we could always contact one of the doctors I read about. The victim could be very lucky.”

“That could be an option to look into,” JD replied. “We’ll keep that in mind.”

Jensen bit his lip but didn’t say anything in that moment. However, there were other times in the briefing where Jensen would misquote information or misspeak. He was exhausted and it was making him sloppy. The fact that he was still pissed over Ed was making him snappy on top of it all. Most of the snappy remarks were directed towards Jared since he was the first to notice the errors thanks to his apparently freakishly fast reading. 

“What types of bullets fragment like this?” JD asked, picking up some of the pictures from the hospital. 

“The most widely used would be a .225 caliber round,” Jensen answered quickly, thanking his lucky stars that he had recently read up on some new weaponry and things. 

Jared’s brow furrowed and Jensen braced himself for the kid to start up again. “I believe you mean .223 caliber rounds, sir.”

Jensen rubbed at his forehead. “Kid, you don’t even look like you’re old enough to fire a gun, let alone know what types of bullets will fragment on impact.”

Jared blushed deeply and JD fixed Jensen with a glare for saying something like that. But Jared spoke up before JD could reprimand the unit chief. “I may not be very old but that doesn’t mean I don’t know my gun stats. It is a .223 caliber you are talking about here. I don’t even think there is such a thing as a .225. Sorry sir.”

“Listen, I’ve been using and reading about these types of rifles since you were probably in high school so—”

“Seeming as how I graduated high school ten years ago, and you were just then finishing your college education, I’m not sure that is completely accurate.”

“God,” Jensen scoffed. He was getting sick of the know-it-all saying things so kindly yet so annoyingly at every possible moment. “I know my guns and—” 

Tired of listening to Jensen, Chris pulled up the information on his laptop to get Jensen to calm down and give in to the kid. “Jen, give it a break. The kid’s right. See?” He flipped the laptop around so that Jensen could read the information. “Sorry man, but whatever you were looking at with those stats was wrong.”

Jensen’s face flushed bright red but he finally relented and allowed Kristen to move on to other aspects of the case. But that didn’t stop him from shooting looks towards Jared whenever he heard the kid add another comment. 

Needless to say, the whole team looked utterly spent after the session.

“Ok, think that is all for tonight, guys,” Kristen finally said. “Wheels up tomorrow morning so go get some sleep. Our flight will take off at ten, so please come here by eight AM to gather what you need and drop your cars. Jared, JD, if either of you need anything beforehand, just let me know. If not, I will see you all then.” 

“Dr. Padalecki,” Jensen said as everyone began to stand and leave. “I’d like to speak with you for a moment. Everyone else, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Everyone gave him a weird look as they filed out of the room. Jared stayed in his chair, looking a little nervous. Jensen stood and walked towards him, his face still red from being corrected so many times. 

“Sir, I apologize if—”

“Next time, you do not question my judgment so many times. Understood?” Jensen spoke rather calmly, but his tone still had a bit of an edge to it. 

“I wasn’t questioning your judgment at all. I was just trying to—”

“I get it! It’s your first day and you want to come off as the hot shot you appear to be on paper. We’ve all been there. But don’t forget that I am your superior and you will not disrespect me. I don’t need a smart ass kid talking back to me during meetings.”

“I wasn’t disrespecting you,” Jared practically whispered. 

Jensen sighed heavily and ran his hand over his face. He poked Jared in the chest. “And if I ever catch you calling a victim ‘lucky’ again, I will make sure your ass if off my team.” 

Jared’s eyes widened. “I know better than to do that! I would never say something like that to a victim. I only meant that it would be very lucky for them to be able to have a procedure of that nature. Nothing more, sir.”

Jensen clenched and unclenched his hands into fists at his side. “Just, watch yourself. Make sure you are here on time in the morning or we will leave you. Understand?” Jared nodded. “Good.” Jensen picked up Jared’s copy of the files and pressed them against Jared’s chest. “Make sure you know what’s in there before tomorrow. We go over everything once again as a team on the flight.” 

Jensen began to walk away; he heard Jared mutter that he already had read everything. Jensen fought the urge to turn around and reprimand him for talking back. He simply rolled his eyes to himself and kept going, leaving Jared in the conference room. He needed to go home and try to sleep. Maybe the couch would be better, remind him less of Ed. Either way, he had to do something.

********

The front door clicked open and Harley scampered off to greet the new arrival. Sadie stayed by Jared’s feet, making sure he was comforted rather than go see who was at the door. Jared could hear Harley barking happily in the corridor but his eyes stayed glued to the television in front of him. He pulled up the soft fleece Tardis blanket tighter around himself and snuggled down into the couch. Sadie’s head nuzzled his leg at the movement.

“Woah, you’re watching _Doctor Who_?” the newcomer asked. 

“Yeah,” Jared answered, not looking up. He knew it was just Matt. 

“Ok.” Matt leaned against the back of their couch. “It’s Monday so that means it can’t be a new episode. It’s the evening so there aren’t reruns on BBC America. So—“

Jared reached under the blanket and pulled up the giant box set of David Tennant’s years and shook it slightly.

“Ahh, I see.” On screen, David was busy accidentally quoting _The Lion King_ to a bunch of deformed looking aliens while wearing a bathrobe. “This is what, his first episode right?”

“Uh huh.” 

“So you had a bad first day at work. What happened?”

Jared paused the episode and finally looked up at Matt. “How do you know I had a bad first day?”

Matt smiled sadly and walked around to sit next to Jared. He pulled the fleece over his lap as well. "I may not be a profiler, but I know you. And you have a _Doctor Who_ pattern."

"No I don't," Jared pouted. 

"You watch sad episodes when you want to cry but don't want people to know why you are crying. You watch classic episodes on Netflix when you are sick or hurt because that's what was always on when you were a kid. And," Matt pointed towards the television, "you watch funnier episodes, like this one, when you are upset. So I repeat, what happened at work?"

Jared bit his lip. "Am I really that transparent?"

Matt took Jared's hand in his. "Just to me, but I'm your big cousin so it is my job to know these things."

Jared sighed and leaned his head against the back of the couch. "Pretty sure my new boss hates me."

"I thought JD was your boss."

"Not anymore," Jared groaned. "We got moved to a new division. We’re both working in the Behavioral Analysis Unit under a new team leader. JD's still my superior, but not the unit chief."

“And the new leader doesn’t like you?”

“Pretty sure he hates me,” Jared muttered, looking down and playing with a loose thread on the blanket. 

“Gotta give me some reasons why he would hate you here, Jay.”

Jared continued to toy with the thread. “I think he thinks I’m trying to undermine his authority and be disrespectful.”

“Why would he think that?” Matt’s brow was scrunched up in confusion. 

“Well,” Jared sighed, running his hand through his messy hair, “when he was giving some statistics for an aspect of a new case, he gave the wrong ones. I corrected him. He still believed he was correct so I corrected him again. One of the other agents pulled it up on his computer and proved I was accurate while he was in the wrong. It happened a few times. Turned out that the book he had been given by the director was outdated and therefore was off in numbers. I had read up on it so knew what the accurate data was.”

“And he didn’t like being corrected?” Matt nudged Jared’s shoulders.

Jared bit his lip, once again. “He didn’t like being corrected by ‘some smart ass kid’ who doesn’t respect authority.” 

Matt sat up more and whipped around to face Jared. His face was turning red and his eyes had narrowed. “What the hell? He actually said that to you? Are you kidding me! I oughta—”

“Matt!” Jared interrupted. “This isn’t middle school! You can’t go beat up Jensen like’s he’s some eleven year old bully! He’s my boss, and that means I have to just deal with it for now.” 

“But it sounds like he _is_ a bully, Jay.” 

Jared sighed deeply and turned on _Doctor Who_ again. “Well, you still can’t beat him up. I’ll deal.” 

“You’ve dealt with enough bullies. You shouldn’t have to.” 

Jared stared at the screen, his eyes locked on the fight sequence between the Doctor and the aliens. He smiled a little as the Doctor outwitted the creepy horned bastard. “But I can and I will.”


	2. Chapter 2

To say Jensen was aggravated would be an understatement. He was fuming, practically pacing back and forth in Director Sheppard’s office as he complained. JD was off to the side, trying his hardest to keep his mouth shut. But he seemed to be losing the battle the more Jensen talked. The source of all this frustration? New agent Dr. Padalecki apparently…

“Jensen, calm down would ya?” JD sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. “I don’t see why you are acting this way.”

“You knew Dr. Padalecki would be joining your team, Ackles,” Mark smirked at him.

Jensen stopped his pacing and sent a glare in Mark’s direction. “Yes, but you neglected to mention that he was a damn kid!”

“He’s not a kid,” JD defended. “He’s a twenty-two year old who has more degrees than all three of us put together and who has gone through the necessary training and—”

“No, if he’s only twenty-two there’s no way he went through all his training, and you know it,” Jensen scoffed. “At twenty-two you are barely allowed to even start training, let alone skip the eight years of work experience that is required prior to the transfer to the BAU. This is insane.” Jensen shook his head and started pacing again. 

“Need I remind you that some of that was waived for you as well?” Mark questioned with raised eyebrows. “You seem to be forgetting that you should not have gotten on the BAU team as young and as, what did you call him earlier? Oh yes! ‘Inexperienced’ as you were. Yet you did and here you are standing before me as the unit chief.” Mark smirked once more. “I believe you need to rethink that argument of yours.”

Jensen’s face flushed bright red. He knew Mark was right. The BAU had waived some of the years of service requirements for him as well thanks to Beaver and Morgan. “But I _had_ some experience before I was thrown out into the damn field with serial killers for God’s sake, Sheppard! Does he even know how to protect himself? Can he stop a mass murderer from taking another victim in the heat of the moment? Huh?” Jensen started pacing once again. “Can he protect a fallen agent from my team if it came down to it? Could he? Hell! Will he even be able to not shoot himself if you put a gun in his hand? I feel like I’m giving a damn firearm to a baby!”

“Jensen,” Mark snapped, “I would advise you to calm yourself before your mouth gets the better of you. Understood?”

Jensen bit his lip and stopped the pacing. “Well could he?”

“Watch yourself, Ackles,” Mark warned again. 

Morgan sighed and pushed away from the wall he had been leaning against. “Jared can use a gun. He knows his way around the weapon to where he isn’t going to shoot himself. He needs help and practice with his aim, but that’s it.”

“Morgan, has he even passed his proficiency exams?” JD glanced towards the ground, and that was all the answer Jensen needed. “That’s what I thought.”

“He is a fast learner,” JD continued. 

“Then why didn’t he learn it during his training?” Jensen snapped. “Hmm? Tell me that.”

“Kind of hard to do when half the agents you’re training with won’t let you in the range or bully you until you leave, don’t you think?” JD answered bluntly, glaring at Jensen. 

Jensen gulped but didn’t say anything. He’d heard of bullying occurring at that level, but he’d never truly seen it. Sure, guys were sometimes a little rough on each other, but that was it.

“You have a few hours before take-off,” Sheppard added. “You will report to the range in the basement and assist Dr. Padalecki. If you are so worried about him not being able to protect himself or his team, then I’m sure you won’t mind assisting him. Right, Ackles?” The look Mark sent him practically dared Jensen to argue.

“Fine,” he huffed, shaking his head. He started to storm out but felt JD grab his arm. 

“I know I’m getting old and all, but I seem to remember Beaver always telling you that profilers had better resources than a gun. There is always more ways to diffuse the situation and if you absolutely have to, more ways to go for the kill.” Jensen tried to shake off his grip but couldn’t. “So what’s really going on with you and Jared? You’ve met him for all of an hour and decided you don’t want him on your team? What’s the real reason?”

Jensen opened his mouth as if to reply, but then just pulled his arm out of JD’s hold. “I’ve gotta go help your boy wonder.” With that, Jensen hurried off towards the gun range, ignoring the looks and calls from the other agents. 

Jensen found Jared already at the range with targets set up and the earplugs already in place. Jensen half expected the kid to startle and try to shoot at him for sneaking up, but he didn’t. Instead, Jared calmly shot at the target one last time (missing the kill shot by quite a bit) and then turned to Jensen nervously. “Agent Ackles,” he greeted. 

Jensen didn’t acknowledge the greeting. He simply walked up to the young agent to check out his target. There was a bullet hole through the groin region, one towards the shoulder, and another towards the abdomen. “Well, with shots like this you’re going to just cause a hell of a lot of pain, but the bastard will still be able to come at you. Do you want that?”

Jared’s throat worked up and down for a second. “No, sir.” He cast his eyes down towards his Chuck Taylor sneakers. 

“Tighten your grip on that gun before you drop it and it goes off,” Jensen ordered. 

Jared did as he was told, shifting on his feet nervously as he stood there. “I do know how to work a gun.”

“Then prove it to me.” Jensen grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him back towards the target. “Show me what you’ve got.” Jensen grabbed some earplugs from the table and fixed them into place. He stayed close to Jared while he fired. The bullets hit in more concise areas, but still nowhere that would kill. Jensen sighed deeply.

“I know those weren’t good either,” Jared said softly.

Jensen grabbed Jared’s shoulders and slid in behind him. “Keep your shoulders back and your arm straight.” He pulled Jared’s arm up and settled his hand at the elbow to keep it straight. The action pushed Jared tighter against his chest, causing the younger man to tense. “Don’t tense up like that,” Jensen reprimanded, making Jared tense all the more. Before Jensen could correct him again, Jared fired. This time none of the bullets hit above the waist on the target. 

“Damn it,” Jensen cursed, stepping away from Jared and tossing out the earplugs. “What was that? You didn’t listen to me. How am I supposed to trust you in the field when you can’t even prove yourself with a simple training exercise like this?” 

Jared bit his lip for a moment before squaring his shoulders, clicking the safety on the gun, and looking Jensen in the eye. “I’m sorry but how am I supposed to prove myself when are breathing down my neck waiting and wanting me to screw up?”

Jensen shot a look at the new agent. “I—”

“Because, no offense sir, that is exactly what you’re doing.” 

Jensen breathed in deeply, trying to collect his thoughts. Before he could speak again, Jared started rambling on him.

“I mean, studies show that it is harder for someone to perform at optimum level in the workplace when their boss acts in this manner towards him or her. And given the nature of this job, I would imagine that it would be quite detrimental to the team, as well as myself, to not be able to perform at my best. I can assure you that my best is good and would meet your standards in most areas. I’m working on my weaponry skills. I can assure you that I will improve given time and space to and—”

Jensen couldn’t help but smile a little at the way the kid rambled nervously and gestured with his hands. “Nervous talker?” Jensen asked, trying to quickly wipe away the smile that had formed. 

“Unfortunately, yes.” Jared sighed and ran his hand through his long hair. “Why do you hate me?” he blurted out, blushing wildly as soon as the words left his mouth. “Sorry, that was out of place and I shouldn’t have said it.” Jared shifted anxiously from foot to foot, making his sneakers squeak. “I’ll just go.” Jared started to walk off but Jensen grabbed him by the arm, much gentler this time, and pulled him back.

He looked Jared up and down, causing the newbie to squirm anxiously from the scrutiny. After a few moments, Jensen ran his hand through his own spiked hair and sighed once more. “I don’t hate you. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel that way.” Jensen looked Jared in the eyes, hoping to show how genuine he was. “But I don’t like you on my team, and I can’t apologize for that.”

Jared nodded slowly. “Can you tell me why at least?” He set the gun down on a nearby table before sitting down next to it. “I think you owe me that much at least.”

Jensen bit his tongue to stop from saying that he didn’t. But he knew Jared did at least need to know where he stood. It didn’t look like the kid was going away any time soon. “Ok,” Jensen finally relented. “Your lack of experience is kind of appalling for this level of the FBI. I get you are smart; I read your files. But the fact is, being smart isn’t the only part of this job. The experience is crucial.” Jensen scrubbed a hand over his face. “So I don’t care for the fact that Sheppard has allowed you on my team over experienced agents who have been vying for positions on a profiling team within the BAU, especially one as well known as mine. So no, I don’t like you being on my team over them.” Jensen shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the stairs.

“You’re wrong you know?” Jared said softly, making Jensen stop in his tracks and turn back around. Their eyes met. “I do have some experience. It may not be with the FBI or with guns, or whatever else you’ve deemed to be appropriate for your team. But I-I can do this job.”

Jensen had to admit that the kid at least had the gall to stand up for himself, something he hadn’t expected. He seemed nervous and like he wanted to take back what he had said, but it was still more than Jensen had expected. “You’ll just have to prove that to me then, huh?” 

Jensen walked off again, hearing Jared faintly say that he would. Jensen just shook his head and kept walking until he reached his office. He turned on the light and nearly jumped out of his skin when his chair spun around to reveal Felicia sitting in it calmly, her legs crossed over the arm of the chair and her fingers twirling the long strands of her red hair. 

“God!” he gasped. His hand had automatically drifted down towards his holster in his fright.

“Actually, it’s Felicia,” she teased with a smirk. “Or goddess. Think I prefer goddess actually. Has a nice ring to it don’t you think?”

“What the hell are you doing? I could have shot you!”

“Nah!” She waved her hand like it was nothing. “But I might just have to snatch one of your guns away from you and shoot you myself if you don’t let up on Jay soon.”

“Huh?” Jensen asked in confusion. 

“Ok, fine,” Felicia stood, dramatically swinging her legs off the chair and onto the floor. “So I find guns pretty icky and wouldn’t dream of taking one.” She sauntered up to Jensen and poked him in the chest. “But I will plaster that junior prom picture of yours all over the office if you so much as glare at Jared one more time. Got it?”

“What?” Jensen sputtered. “I’m not glaring at—”

“Jensen, no offense, you have never been one for subtlety. I can normally appreciate that about you, because I tend to be that way myself. Makes us kindred spirits, ya know?”

“Felicia, what is this about? I really need to get ready to leave.” 

“You need to stop being mean to Jared. He doesn’t deserve that. And you’ve never treated any of us like that, even when we were new. You can come off as a hard ass, sure!” She waved her arms widely at that, “but you’ve never just been deliberately mean to us. What makes him different?” She looked at him with wide eyes, almost as if she was about to cry. 

“I’m not being mean just for the sake of being mean.” Jensen held out his hands in a placating way. “I have my reasons. And they are good reasons.”

“Really? Care to share then?” She had gone from looking like she was about to cry to glaring daggers at him in two seconds flat.

Jensen took a few steps towards her and squeezed her shoulder. “I have to make sure he can do the job. None of you were ever this inexperienced when you were brought on the team. I have to be hard or else he might screw up or—”

“Jared is experienced and he won’t screw up,” she snapped at him. Jensen briefly thought she would spit fire if she could in that moment; she was just that mad. “So back off some before I go about my ways of making you back off.”

“Ok fine I may have been a little rough on him,” Jensen quickly relented when Felicia’s eyes narrowed at him. “But I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to a prom picture and—” 

“Jerry curls, sir? Really? I didn’t realize you were secretly a Timberlake fan back in the day.” Jensen paled, causing Felicia to smirk. “Now, will you please let off of Jared some? He’s a good guy, and you know I know these things. I get that you’re the boss and want to assert yourself and all that. But like I said, you’ve never been blatantly mean to one of us before. And I didn’t like seeing you do that to Jared, who I consider a friend.”

“Felicia I—”

Felicia held a finger up to his lips, effectively shushing him. “Just don’t let it happen again. Or your little wannabe JT snafu will soon be the talk of the BAU.” She winked at him and patted his cheek. “I’ll be in my office awaiting anything you guys might need while you’re in Maine. Tootles.” She waved goodbye and made her exit. 

“Hey, ‘Licia,” Christian greeted and he stepped towards Jensen’s office. She smiled sweetly and mock saluted him before scampering back to her own office. Christian glanced at Jensen. “So I could pretend that I didn’t hear most of that, but there really isn’t much point. You ok?”

“I think she just threatened me,” Jensen sighed with wide eyes.

“Ouch!” Chris laughed. “That girl can be scary when she wants to be.”

“I noticed.” Jensen went around to the other side of his desk to collect his go bag. “Did you need something Chris?”

“Actually yeah.” Chris bit his lip. “I guess I’m here for the same reason as Felicia. You wanna explain why you were so hard on the new kid?”

“Damn,” Jensen huffed. “Not you too.”

“Felicia isn’t wrong, ya know?” Chris took a seat on top of Jensen desk, ignoring the glare that was sent his way. “You were harsh on him yesterday. You weren’t even that bad with her when she joined the team, and she was on one of those lists of people to watch due to her hacking skills and affinity for trying to get into our system. Not surprised she jumped down your throat.” 

“He’s apparently her friend.”

“They go to conventions together sometimes. She said he’s a great guy and super smart,” Chris explained with a shrug.

“That doesn’t mean he should be on our team when he has little to no experience in the field and has never been a part of an FBI team before.”

“I seem to remember you being put onto the team thanks to Beaver and Morgan when you had ‘little to no experience,’ sir.” 

Jensen continued to gather his things, not bothering to look up at Chris’s words.

“So I’m going to ask again, what’s really going on?” Chris hopped off the desk and walked to Jensen’s side. “What’s really bothering you? Is this about Jim stepping down? Because you know that wasn’t your fault.”

“I know,” Jensen sighed. “It isn’t about Jim. It’s just that this guy is a kid and—”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Chris huffed. “So I repeat, what’s really going on here? I would love for you to just answer me but I can totally go all profiler on your ass.”

“Thought we had the rule that we would never profile anyone on the team?” Jensen finally looked up from gathering his things. 

“Well, when it’s for the good of the team I think I have every right to break that rule.” Chris quirked an eyebrow, as if daring Jensen to argue more. “One last time, what’s going on? Is it having JD back on the team? Or something at home? You still upset about Katie not talking to you?”

“My sister hasn’t spoken more than five words to me since last Christmas. I’ve gotten used to that. And I have no issues with JD. We worked together a little when I first joined and he taught some courses I took.”

“Then what is wrong? Because I highly doubt you are being this odd towards that kid just for the sake of it. I know you better than that.” Chris squeezed Jensen’s shoulder. “What’s going on man? Did something happen with Ed?” 

Jensen tensed at the mention of his now ex-boyfriend. He hoped Chris wouldn’t notice, but he had no such luck. 

“So that’s what’s going on?” Chris snapped. “What has that dickhead done now?” 

Normally Jensen would berate Christian for speaking that way about Ed. Chris had never cared for Ed. He knew how much the two of them fought over the job and how often Ed would blame Jensen for problems in their relationship. Jensen may have been the cause for a lot of the problems since his job took him away for days at a time and he was bad about bringing his work home with him, but Ed was never perfect either. 

“He, uh, left me the other night,” Jensen finally admitted, scrubbing a hand over his face tiredly. 

“He what?”

Jensen sighed loudly and sank into his chair. “I went home after we celebrated the promotion the other night. I had forgotten that we had a dinner date so he was already pissed. Then I mentioned the promotion and tried to explain myself—he just blew up at me.” Jensen bit his lip and looked off towards his window, trying to collect himself for a moment. “I know I screwed up a lot and wasn’t there, but I didn’t expect him to just explode like that. It wasn’t pretty.”

“I’m sorry, brother.” Chris squeezed his shoulder once more and stepped back, as if trying to give him space. “But you can’t take that out on the new guy just because you are having a hard time dealing with it.”

“Chris I—”

“No, let me finish. You and Ed have been moving towards this for a while now. It sucks, that’s a given. It always hurts to lose someone you care about. But you two, you weren’t going to ever work.” He sent Jensen a sad smile. “I hate to be so blunt, but neither of you wanted to give up things for the other. You each wanted very specific things, and they clashed. This was inevitable.”

“It didn’t feel like it was,” Jensen muttered, his voice barely a whisper. 

“And that, my friend, was part of your problem. You didn’t see this coming. But I’m pretty sure Ed and anyone else with eyes did.”

Jensen glared at Chris, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew Chris was right. Ed had wanted the opposite of him. He’d wanted to give up the time consuming jobs and settle into regular nine to five esque ones so that they could start a family. Jensen wasn’t ready to give up his career, and he honestly didn’t know if he ever would be. 

The signs had been there. Jensen had just been too busy to notice.

“Jensen?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Jensen cleared his throat. “Just thinking.”

Chris nodded and patted Jensen’s back. “I should probably go get my bag anyway. We’re supposed to be leaving soon.” 

Chris was nearly to the door by the time Jensen spoke. “I’ll try to let up some on Dr. Padalecki.” Chris stopped and leaned against the doorframe. “But I really am worried about how he’ll handle field work. I may have taken out some stuff on him, but I wasn’t lying about that.”

“I think that’s justifiable. But don’t set the kid up for failure just because you think he could fail.” With that, Chris pushed off the doorframe and went off towards his own desk, leaving Jensen with his thoughts once more. 

Jensen let his head fall against the back of his chair and he breathed in deeply. He knew he couldn’t keep taking things out on the new guy. That wouldn’t be good for anyone involved, especially once they started working this case. But he couldn’t just let the guy have free rein either. He still didn’t trust that Jared could do the job, and he vowed to figure the guy out one way or the other.

*******

Jared stayed in the range after Jensen had left, trying desperately to improve his aim. No matter how hard he concentrated, he just couldn’t get a kill shot. He shot off another round and once again mostly hit in the groin and leg area.

“Did Danni come down here and show you how to shoot?”

Jared hit the safety of the gun and turned around to see JD walking up to him. “Excuse me?”

JD placed his hand on his shoulder and looked to the target. “Aiming for the crotch like that…would’ve thought Danni was shooting.” He chuckled and squeezed Jared’s shoulder, but Jared didn’t even crack a smile. “Aww come on kid. It’s ok. Not the end of the world just because you can’t pass your gun proficiency just yet. It’ll come to you.”

“I’ve been here since four and it hasn’t come to me yet,” Jared grumbled, shrugging out of JD’s hold and setting up a new target

“Profilers are not required to carry a gun.”

“Yet you have three on you at the moment.”

JD smiled. “I only have two strapped to my waist.”

“The third is held in an ankle holster.”

“How’d you know that?” JD asked incredulously. 

“Could tell by the way you walked.”

JD shook his head. “See, that right there is what will get you through this job.” He poked Jared in the forehead gently. “This here.”

“Apparently not,” Jared sighed. “I’ve already been told by Agent Ackles that the job is more than just being smart and—”

“You know what the most effective weapon we have against those bastards out there is?” When Jared didn’t answer, when he didn’t even look up, JD continued. “A thorough profile.” JD stepped back towards Jared and took the gun out of his hand. “You don’t need this to win. I don’t care what Jensen says. Ok?”

Jared nodded, still not sure he completely believed the man. 

“Come on, kiddo,” JD said, taking the gun from Jared. “Go gather your stuff and get ready. We should be heading out.”

Jared stared at his target once more before giving up. He followed JD upstairs and gathered the rest of his things before meeting up with everyone else on the plane. No one really said anything to him. Chris nodded in lieu of a greeting while the girls waved. Jensen didn’t even acknowledge him. 

Once they were in the air, they all gathered around one of the tables and started sorting through the information available to them.

“So this is an L.D.S.K.?” Danni started.

“A what?” Kristen asked.

“Long Distance Serial Killer,” Jensen answered with a sad smile. “Which will make this very tough for us.”

“Why’s that?” Kristen continued.

“Because none of them have ever been caught using a profile before,” Jared replied. He could feel Jensen’s eyes on him, but he didn’t meet the unit chief’s gaze. 

“But that doesn’t mean it is impossible,” JD interjected. “I’ve seen profiles work in situations where they hadn’t in the past. So let’s not dwell on that.”

“Agent Morgan is right,” Jensen said with a nod. “When we land, Chris I want you and Danneel to go to the park to gather what you can from the scene. Kristen, go ahead and speak with the families that are still at the hospital. And take JD with you. Jared, you and I will report to the police station and speak with them on what they know. We’ll meet at the park once we are all done and commence in a reenactment that the police have coordinated with Kristen.”

Jared tried not to let his shock at Jensen wanting him with him show, so he simply nodded. They went back to looking over pictures of victims and the scene for the rest of the flight, and when the plane landed, Jared followed Jensen to one of the vehicles and climbed into the passenger seat. Neither spoke until they reached the station.

“Stay close to me for now. Follow my lead and you’ll be fine,” Jensen finally stated. “Most cops react to us in one of two ways. Half of them will be happy to have the help while the other half will be resentful at the fact that their superiors felt the need to call in outside help. Be wary of that.”

“I understand.” Jared fiddled with the strap of his messenger bag. “I have dealt with police before; just not on this scale. I’ve just done some consultation work with JD.”

Jensen turned into the parking lot and cut the engine. “That’s better than nothing, I guess. But still, do as I say on this one. You do well, and you’ll get more freedom on another case. Got it?”

“Yes sir,” Jared replied softly. He hoisted his bag on his shoulder and followed Jensen inside the station. Jensen quickly greeted the chief while Jared hung back, looking around at the evidence boards while Jensen talked. 

“Chief Erins, this is Dr. Padalecki.”

Jared turned back to the chief as Jensen introduced him. “Pleasure to meet you,” he greeted.

The chief looked at him skeptically with a raised eyebrow. “You’re a doctor? You look like you should still be in high school.”

Jared blushed wildly and looked towards Jensen. He fully expected his boss to reprimand him and agree with the chief. What he did instead surprised the hell out of Jared. 

“Don’t let his looks fool you. He has more degrees than anyone on the team. He’ll be quite the asset on this case.” 

Jared tried not to let his surprise show and it took him a moment to realize that Jensen was still talking to him and ordering him to start checking over the evidence. He quickly set to work, trying to find a pattern or anything he could. The victims were random, all in the wrong place at the wrong time. He continued to stare at the board, taking it all in, until Jensen returned later. 

“Hey, the others just checked in. We’re meeting up at the park with some of the other officers as well to do a reenactment.”

“Any word on that bullet?” Jared asked as they made their way out of the station and walked towards the park. It was only a few blocks away and the other officers had gone ahead to set it up for them with Kristen’s supervision.

“Yeah,” Jensen huffed, running a hand through his hair. “JD said it got kind of heated between the surgeon and the hospital director.” 

“Most surgeons tend to have narcissistic qualities and can be rather assertive in their capability, even when faced with facts that contradict them.” 

“Yeah,” Jensen scoffed with wide eyes. “Anyway, they approved the surgery and JD has handed the bullet over to be processed. Felicia is going through records now to see what type of gun it fits and who in the area possibly owns that. It looks military though.”

“There’s gotta be, what, hundreds of ex-military in the area at best?”

“Pretty much,” Jensen sighed, hopping down a small embankment and down onto the parking lot of the park. “That’s why we’re doing this to see if we missed something that might help us with the profile so we can narrow it down.” The rest of the team came into view. “Alright guys. We’ve got an officer in the trunk of one of the cars in the lot. We think that’s most likely how he’s concealing himself from his victims when he goes on these shooting sprees. He’s going to use his radio to give us information on what he can see. The rest of you guys, you’re the victims.”

Chris put his arm around Jared’s shoulders and pulled him towards him. “Come on pretty boy. You’re with me this time.”

Jared gulped and nodded, allowing Christian to pull him towards the edge of the parking lot where two brothers had been shot days before. Jared instantly started looking around, trying to not pay attention to the way Chris’s eyes followed his every move.

“What do ya see, kid?” Chris asked after a few seconds.

Jared bit his lip. “Nothing.” Chris scrunched his forehead in confusion. “No I mean, I can’t see anything from this spot. The brothers were too far down the incline here to be able to see the parking lot and get a glimpse of the car and therefore the UNSUB. There is no point in interviewing either of them. They wouldn’t have seen anything that could help us.”

Chris smirked. “Good. Good observations.” He clapped Jared on the back, nearly knocking him over in his enthusiasm. He then grabbed his radio. “Hey Jen, we’ve got nothing here. The Potter brothers wouldn’t have seen anything. Jared’s about their height and can’t see the parking lot from here.”

_“Yeah, Danni can’t see anything either so Ms. Riley wouldn’t have seen anything.”_

“What about the other officers?”

_“No luck,” Jensen answered. “Doesn’t look like anyone could see anything.”_

“Great,” Chris huffed. “Back to square one.”

_“Looks that way. Let’s head in and sort through everything again.”_

“Got it boss.” Chris clipped his radio back onto his belt before turning toward Jared once more. “We’re packing it up. No one is seeing anything and tire tracks point towards that spot the police car is parked.” Chris shrugged. “Guy’s good.”

“Apparently,” Jared sighed, hating that he couldn’t figure things out yet. He wanted to know the answers. He felt like he almost needed to in order to get accepted by this team. 

Jared’s foot was about to hit the pavement when a shot suddenly rang out. There was suddenly lots of screaming all around him. Jared felt something warm and wet hit his cheek and neck. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground with Christian on top of him. It took him a bit to realize Chris was actually talking to him.

“Jared! Come on kid! Are you hit?”

“What?” he asked softly. “I—”

“Shit! You’re covered in blood!”

“Blood?” With a shaky hand, Jared rubbed at the wetness on his cheek. His fingers came away red.

“Jare?” Christian started patting him down, obviously searching for a bullet wound. 

Jared batted his hands away. “I don’t think I was hit. Nothing hurts. Well my shoulder but I think that’s just from hitting the ground. No blood there. I’m f-fine.” 

Chris seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “Stay down. Do not move, hear me?”

Jared nodded furiously and watched as Chris stood up some and looked around. They had landed on the side of the patrol car that faced the park. A few feet away from them, on the other side near the trunk, lay the officer who had been playing their sniper. Blood seeped from a hole in his head and began to pool on the ground, spreading out underneath the car. Jared flinched at the sight but didn’t dare move away. 

“What the hell is going on?” Chris shouted out to everyone.

“Did anyone see anything?” Danni yelled back.

“No!” Jensen shouted. “What’s going on?”

There was more shouting, most of which was lost on Jared. His focus remained on the body lying in front of him. He couldn’t take his eyes off it.

“Shit, is he ok?” Jensen asked, suddenly at Jared’s side. The younger agent flinched as soon as Jensen touched him, not having noticed that his boss was at his side. “Hey, it’s just Jensen. Can you hear me Padalecki?”

Jared took in a shaky breath. “Y-yeah. Not my bl-blood.” He finally turned away from the body and looked at Jensen. “Not h-hit.” He closed his eyes for a moment. He felt someone pat his shoulder, but he didn’t know if it was Jensen or Chris. He didn’t care. It was comforting nonetheless. 

“Let’s get you up,” Chris said softly. Along with Jensen, he helped Jared to his feet. He swayed a little but got his balance and shrugged out of their grip. 

“I’m ok,” Jared replied a little stronger. He tried to take a deep breath but nearly gagged at the stench of blood in the air. He managed to keep it together. He had to. He couldn’t look weak to the team. He couldn’t be weak.

He felt an arm slide across his shoulders. He started to pull away but stopped when he heard the voice that went along with that arm. “Just me,” JD whispered. “Let’s get you your go bag and clean up some. Ok?”

“It’s at the station,” Jared said by way of an answer. 

“Sounds good.” JD guided him to a nearby car. Jared was pretty sure JD told the others what he was doing, but he couldn’t be sure. He barely noticed the car moving the few blocks back to the station. He didn’t even realize they had reached their destination until JD was opening his door and helping him back out. “Is your bag still in the SUV or did you take it inside?”

“Car,” Jared replied, squinting from the brightness of the sun. 

JD squeezed Jared’s shoulder. “Go ahead into the station and I’ll grab it for you.”

Jared didn’t reply but went ahead into the building. He walked past the officers and secretaries that had stayed behind. They all gaped at his appearance, but he didn’t stop. He scurried to the conference room that had the evidence boards. Something wasn’t right and he had to figure it out.

He was busy looking over everything when JD came in with his bag and the rest of the team returned. They all tried to get him to move away, to go get cleaned up, and to change but he never budged. He waved off the hands that tried to pull him away. He ignored the orders and pleas of the team. 

“Jared, go change,” JD begged. 

Jared nodded but didn’t move. His eyes scanned the evidence in front of him while he half listened to Jensen talk in the background. Jensen had long given up trying to make him leave to change.

“The news somehow heard about the reenactment. Probably from one of the local officers,” Jensen huffed, throwing down a folder onto the table near Jared. The papers spilled out, catching Jared’s attention. It was the report on the bullet the surgeon had removed as well as some information about the procedure and surgeon himself. Jared quickly read over it all while the others continued to talk. 

“However it got out,” Danni stated, “this guy did not like the idea of someone else pretending to be him. He didn’t go after any of us, just Officer Ramsey.” She tapped her knuckles against the table. “Just our stand in sniper.”

“He wants all the attention on him. He’s probably a narcissist with control issues. He’s got a job where he doesn’t feel appreciated. He’s passed up for promotions and feels he’s working at something remedial, below his skill level,” Jared muttered. The others all turned to look at him. “Yet it’s a job that lets him do these shootings in the afternoon.”

“That could be anything really,” Jensen replied. “Could pull nights shifts at a gas station or—”

“No, no! He has too much medical history and—hospital! That’s what we’re missing!” Jared rubbed at his face, wincing at the feel of the dried blood. 

“Jared,” JD gently said, “maybe you should sit down. Or head to the hotel to get cleaned up. It’s ok we—”

“No, listen!” Jared held up his hands. “We are looking at this all wrong. He’s a hospital worker of some form!”

“What?” Jensen asked. He walked over towards the board, trying to figure out what Jared was seeing.

“On the plane, someone mentioned that maybe he was a police officer or knew the inner workings of when shifts changed since all his shootings were at those times. But what if it is simply because those are the times he has available? I’m not ruling out the possibility that he was a cop at some point, because that would explain a lot as well. But I think it’s more than that! This guy’s got an intrinsic knowledge on where exactly to shoot in order to just injure, not kill. That’s not something he would know from just a military or police background.”

“Ok,” Jensen stated, still staring at the board. “What else?”

Jared scrubbed a hand over his face again. “You said he’s most likely a narcissist. He feels he’s somehow God’s gift to this world; that he’s the best in his field. Yet he’s been passed over for jobs he covets and has been forced into one he does not enjoy. He is therefore trying to prove he’s the best.” Jared paused and motioned towards the victims’ pictures. “What better way to do that than to cause a wave of injuries that you can treat?”

“Angel of Death,” JD gasped.

Jared pointed towards JD and nodded enthusiastically. “Richard Angelo poisoned patients at the Good Samaritan Hospital in New York back in the eighties because he wanted to be the hero. He wanted to prove that he could save people’s lives because he believed he was more capable than other nurses who were his superiors. But he wasn’t and he slipped up.” 

“So we need to go back to the hospital,” Kristen said, already gathering her things.

Jared shook his head and held his hand over the files on the table. “We do but we’d be going in blind. We don’t have a name. I mean, this surgeon should definitely be questioned but I don’t know that we want to go in with just him in mind.”

“I think we should give the profile to the officers so they know what to look for and then go to the hospital. JD, I want you to talk to the surgeon again. Danni and Kristen, go talk to the hospital director. Give her the profile and see if she knows of anyone. Chris, I want you to stay here and give the profile to the police for me and get Felicia to start checking into hospital staff records. Make sure she cross checks them with people who were military and/or police.”

“Got it boss,” Chris replied.

“And Jared, you and I will go to the ER and talk with the staff. It could be very likely that our UNSUB works in that area of the hospital. I’d imagine surgeons and ER doctors and nurses are our best bets.”

“Definitely,” Jared agreed. He tried to keep his face straight, but he couldn’t help but crack a slight smile.

“Alright, let’s go.” Jensen grabbed Jared’s arm before he could get very far. “Go clean up first and change. I don’t think you want to go into the ER covered in blood, kid.” 

“R-right,” Jared stuttered in reply, suddenly remembering that he was still covered in the fallen officer’s blood. He grabbed his bag from JD and quickly cleaned himself up in the nearby restroom. 

Once Jared returned, the team separated to go in their respective directions with Jared once again following Jensen out to their SUV. Jensen paused for a moment once he was in the driver’s seat and looked at Jared. “That was a good catch in there. I will give you that. But that doesn’t mean I think you should be in the field like this. Ok?”

“I-I understand, sir,” Jared stammered nervously. 

“Good.” With that, Jensen turned the key in the ignition and took off towards the hospital. It didn’t take long to reach the ER and head inside. 

“Oh, sorry,” Jared quickly apologized as he bumped into a broad shouldered nurse. The guy sent him a look before nodding and brushing him off to head over to the nurses’ station. Jared continued after Jensen who was looking for the attending physician. 

Once they found her, Dr. O’Brien didn’t seem to want to help much. “I’m sorry gentlemen, but as you can imagine we’ve had our hands full with these shootings. We’ve been short staffed for a while now and—Pellegrino! The lady in exam room two still needs to be cleaned up!” 

The same nurse Jared had bumped into flinched at her tone and turned towards them. “I’m a nurse, not an orderly.”

“Well we don’t have that many orderlies so suck it up,” Dr. O’Brien snapped before turning back to the agents. “Sorry.” She ran a hand through her hair and gathered up some more clipboards. “Like I said, we’re short staffed so I don’t know who exactly has been working during all the shootings. And if you’ll excuse me I must be going.”

She took a step but Jared stepped in front of her, blocking her from moving. “I’m sorry ma’am. I understand you are busy but finding this person before they hurt anyone else would make your job easier, don’t you think?”

She glared at him but didn’t move at least. 

“We think this person wouldn’t be someone who was actually scheduled to work during the times of the shootings. Rather it would be someone you called in. Someone who was always leaving right before the attacks and would be called in once you received the heads up that you were going to be crowded with the victims.”

Dr. O’Brien’s face scrunched up in thought before her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh God!” She dropped her clipboards and brought a hand to her mouth. “Pellegrino! Mark’s always been called in and—”

“Where is he now?” Jensen interrupted. 

“I just sent him to exam room 2. I—”

“Listen to me,” Jensen calmly said. “You need to act like nothing is wrong. Do not set him off. I’m going to have Dr. Padalecki calmly leave the ER and call in for backup just in case. Then we’re going to search his locker and see what we find. You cannot tip him off. Understood?” She nodded vigorously. “Go tend to your patients. Padalecki, go outside and call the others as well as the station.”

Jared never got the chance to pull his phone from inside his bag. He never even made it past the hallway. Before he could reach the door, he saw Pellegrino return and felt intense pain shoot through his skull. He fell to his knees, but managed to stay conscious. When he lifted his head, he almost wished he hadn’t. He was looking directly into the barrel of a rifle.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, I have a few things I needed to say but didn’t want to have it all bogged down at the front. I’m going to shoot for weekly updates. I am not promising that this will definitely happen, but I’m going to try. As of right now, I have two chapters more or less ready to post. I want to keep at least 2 chapters ahead of myself so that I’m not completely panicked once school starts. So as of right now I will do my best to post every Monday or Tuesday. 
> 
> Also, there will eventually be a character guide. Jennie and I have discussed this and she is working on it. In the mean time, I just wanted to add a note about certain names who I haven’t mentioned in full yet so that it isn’t too confusing:  
> Kristen = Kristen Bell  
> Ed = Ed Westwick  
> Matt = Matt Bomer  
> Sam = Samantha Smith


End file.
